Ex-PM Khan, wife arrested on new charges after acquittal in ‘illegal’ marriage case

Former Pakistan prime minister Imran Khan (C) with his wife Bushra Bibi (L) arrive to appear at a high court in Lahore on May 15, 2023. (AFP/File)

• Khan, wife Bushra were sentenced to seven years in prison in February by court that ruled their 2018 marriage broke Islamic law
• Authorities brought new cases related to May 9 violence, illegal sale of state gifts against them while they were being released

ISLAMABAD: Former Prime Minister Imran Khan and his wife Bushra Khan were arrested by Pakistani authorities in a case involving the illegal sale of state gifts on Saturday after a court accepted their appeals against a ruling that they had violated the country’s marriage law and ordered their immediate release.
Khan and his wife were sentenced to seven years in prison and fined in February by a court that ruled their 2018 marriage broke the law. Bushra was accused of not completing the waiting period mandated by Islam, called “Iddat,” after divorcing her previous husband and marrying Khan.
Khan has been in jail after being convicted in four cases since last August. Two of the cases have since been suspended and he was acquitted in a third, so the Iddat case was the only one keeping him in prison.
However, shortly after the local court’s verdict in his favor, the former prime minister and his wife were arrested in a lingering corruption reference against them, commonly known as the Toshakhana – or state repository – case, preventing the possibility of them walking out of the jail.
“We have just received information that Imran Khan and former First Lady Bushra Bibi have been arrested in the Toshakhana case,” Naeem Haider Panjutha, Khan’s spokesperson on legal affairs, announced in a brief video message.
Prior to that, Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party had said he had been arrested in three more cases on the instruction of an Anti-Terrorism Court in Lahore in the May 9 case related to violent protests last year.
These protests followed the former premier’s brief detention on corruption charges, with people carrying PTI flags vandalizing government buildings and military properties in different parts of the country.
Khan was viewed as a prime suspect in the case, with the authorities suggesting that the rioting was planned beforehand by the top PTI leaders.
The PTI described the new cases as “another gimmick” to prolong Khan’s imprisonment, saying all charges against him in May 9 cases were based on testimony by police officials.
Shortly before these developments, Additional Session Judge Afzal Majoka dismissed charges against the couple in Iddat case, ordering their release.
In a short order of the court seen by Arab News, the judge said the Superintendent Central Prison Adiala, where Khan and Bushra are jailed, was “required and authorized” to release them “if they are not required in any other case.”
“Appeals filed by the appellants Imran Ahmad Khan Niazi and Bushra Imran Khan have been accepted and appellants have been acquitted of the charge,” the order said.
Khan’s convictions had ruled the 71-year-old out of the February general elections as convicted felons cannot run for public office under Pakistani law. Arguably Pakistan’s most popular politician, Khan says all cases against him are motivated to keep him out of politics.
The criminal complaint against Khan and Bushra’s marriage was brought by her ex-husband, Khawar Maneka, to whom she was married for about 30 years.
Khan has often called Bushra his spiritual leader. She is known for her devotion to Sufism, a mystical form of Islam.
Born Bushra Riaz Wattoo, she changed her name to Khan after her marriage. Her husband and followers commonly refer to her as Bushra Bibi or Bushra Begum, titles that denote respect in the Urdu language.
Khan’s two previous marriages — to Jemima Goldsmith, daughter of tycoon James Goldsmith, and television journalist Reham Nayyar Khan — ended in divorce.